Creator Imposter Syndrome

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

As you read this the Shanghai Bologna Children’s Book fair gets underway in Shanghai. It is billed as the largest Asia Pacific region book fair dedicated to children’s books. Looking at the geographic representation… there are a lot of Asian countries quite a spread of European countries but none from the lower Pacific Rim. Is it geopolitical politics that is keeping them away?

 

African publishing is having a geopolitical publishing problem, reports Publishers Weekly. The problem is Wakanda. This mythical nation is being seen as the default African experience by international publishers There are 53 nations in Africa, apparently they all sound like Wakanda, and look like Wakanda. African publishers are trying to separate themselves and be true to their own voices.

 

Scotland libraries have highlighted a real crisis happening at home and across the world, the closure of libraries. They are calling for more financial and contextual support for libraries. What happened to the billionaires who funded libraries? Where are they now?

 

Mark Williams reports on Audible’s huge investment in Harry Potter, specifically a full dramatized audiobook production. A cast of hundreds, a fan base of millions, a match made in heaven or at least the accounting ledger. He sounds a warning to others who might think this is a good idea.

 

Publishing’s survival depends on data, says the Elsevier chairman Y S Chi. He was speaking at Sharjah Publishers Conference and knows what he is talking about. This is a fascinating article from Publishers Weekly. He gives publishing five years before it is irrelevant if they don’t take action now with their proprietary data. I wonder how many publishers still have their head in the sand on this. Data and what you can learn from it is one of the big discussions in the independent publishing community.

 

Amazon has a news release that they have Kindle Translate in Beta. They are just looking at Spanish and German translations at the moment. I wonder if they picked those two because of the huge book selling markets they have.

 

There are still 200,000 books unclaimed in the Anthropic settlement. Writer Beware is warning of scam law firms who want to help you get your payout. This is really annoying the actual lawyers who are overseeing this case and the payout. Not every law firm is your friend especially if you might be coming into money. 

 

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad imposter syndrome crisis writes Rachel Toalson for Writer Unboxed. (I don’t know a single good writer who doesn’t suffer from this.) Why is this such a problem in the writer community? Rachel suggests we get out of our own head.

 

Anthologies. It’s lovely to be asked to contribute to these. But there are some pitfalls out there for the unwary author. Matty Dalrymple and Mark Leslie Lefavbre have a chapter from their excellent short story writing craft book on Jane Friedman’s blog. Before you say yes to the anthology.

 

Joanna Penn recently had a great interview with Wendy Dale on Memoir and why structure matters more than you think. For anyone writing or editing a memoir, this is a must read.

 

In The Craft Section,

The art of intimacy in writing- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark

How to mine early memories for children’s stories- Marilyn June Janson

Secondary characters should have motivation- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

Stop labeling the process and trust the story- Yasmin Angoe

Is your writing good enough- Suzy Vadori- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

How I use Bookbub ads to market full price books- Mathew Holmes -Bookmark

The Instagram Glow Up – Sandra Beckwith

The power of the prequel- Written Word Media- Bookmark

Book Promo ideas- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Wither Social Media -James Scott Bell- Interesting 

 

To Finish

 

Rachel Thompson’s posts on book marketing are always must reads for me. Her latest post Why Creators Fear Bad Reviews and How That Fear Makes Us Better is one of her stand out articles that all writers should read. She explores the psychology behind creator fear and how we can harness it to turn it into creative fuel. 

Creative fuel comes from many sources. The Storybundle collection of writing craft books is only available for another three weeks so go check it out. You will kick yourself if you miss out.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Photo by Llanydd Lloyd on Unsplash